IFM: Tim Sandtler Brands Hatch summary

Race 1
Grid Position: 20
Result: 8
Race 2
Grid Position: 1
Result: -
Tim had mixed feeling about his return to Brands Hatch. Friday brought a
sensation of deja-vu, as he was already familiar with the 1.93km
reduced-length circuit from the ...

Race 1
Grid Position: 20
Result: 8

Race 2
Grid Position: 1
Result: -

Tim had mixed feeling about his return to Brands Hatch. Friday brought a
sensation of deja-vu, as he was already familiar with the 1.93km
reduced-length circuit from the Formula 3 Euro Series. For the qualifying
session on Saturday and without any extra time for free practice, they
switched to the 3.7km full-length circuit which Tim and half the other
contestants had never driven on before.

"The additional part of the track is very difficult," explains Tim.
"There are a lot of very fast, blind corners where you can't see the
turn-in point." At least it wasn't necessary to make many changes to
the setup. "We'd managed to get it just right for both track
configurations." Learning the track was the lesser of his two qualifying
problems. As there were only two sets of tyres available, Tim had to use
the first of these to familiarise himself with the track. "When I
finally fitted the second set, yellow flags and traffic prevented me from
getting in a flying lap." Consequently, he had to settle for 20th on the
grid.

Even the beauty of the circuit couldn't compensate for that
disappointment. "It's a fabulous track," says Tim. "Brands Hatch is
traditional race track with plenty of fast sections. It is undulating and
makes great demands of a driver. Most modern circuits have a staccato
design which is supposed to make it easier to launch passing manoeuvres.
But Brands Hatch has a superb flow to it which makes for a really
enjoyable drive."

And it's also possible to move up the field, as Tim demonstrated in the
first race, managing to improve from his P20 start to finish eighth. "It
was possible to overtake, but it was difficult if the man in front was
smart and didn't lose speed," concedes Tim. "But I was lucky to the
extent that quite a few of the drivers ahead of me had to retire." On
the final few laps, Tim was tailing the car running eighth for pole
position in the second race. "On the last lap, I attacked but it wasn't
enough." As things turned out, that didn't matter, since a
disqualification was to secure Tim the pole for Sunday anyway.

This time, he intended to make more of the opportunity than he had at
Estoril where he also started from pole but could only manage third spot
on the podium. "I got off to a great start and managed to shake off my
pursuer." But a safety-car phase was to negate his advantage. "After
the re-start, I managed to get away from everyone again and I had a
one-second lead on Michael Ammermuller. But then I probably pushed that
little bit too hard, and on a fast right-hander, I went up on the grass
with one of my rear tyres." The resulting spin brought his race and his
hopes of victory to a premature end. "If it hadn't been for that, I
could clearly have won the race," says Tim with evident frustration.

All the same, this weekend's outing at Brands Hatch has fired him up for
his home race in Oschersleben. "We've shown that we're making headway
and that Estoril wasn't a flash in the pan," says Tim with
satisfaction. "After the last race, I said that I was capable of more
than third place and I almost proved it here."